I'm Still Waiting
by Heart of the Lullaby
Summary: It's been three years after Phil left for the future, and much hasn't changed for Keely. But what if seeing something at graduation gets her a little excited? Maybe Phil is back? WARNING: Pheely! Duh!
1. Nothing Has Changed

**Keely's POV**

She was still doodling his name constantly in her notebooks and on her folders.

She was still waiting by his old locker, only to find it wasn't his anymore.

She sat up late at night and composed songs on guitar for him.

She made up scenarios in her head, about how he had never left, and they could've graduated together, went to the same college, eventually got married, and would have 2 children named Desiree and Phil Junior.

His voice still lingered in her thoughts. She felt like he was still there with her, just silently observing.

She hadn't dated other guys. Sure, a few had asked her out over the year, but she kindly turned them down.

She still had friends, but didn't get close to any of them like with him.

She now preferred to stay at home for school functions, since she didn't have him right by her side.

She quit doing the H.G. Wells morning news.

Sometimes she walked by his still empty house, sat on the front porch, and cried.

Sometimes she could even feel his kiss on her lips, and the warmth of his hugs.

She had a salt shaker hidden under the floorboards of her room.

She had fallen apart ever since Phil Diffy left.

Three years had passed, and not much has changed for Keely Teslow. She felt frozen in time. She felt that her life would soon pick up where it left off when Phil would return. She had been waiting three years, and she still had hope.

Ever since Phil left, nothing felt the same. Everything she did, she did with a half-hearted effort. The girl who used to be so bubbly and outgoing, was now boring and depressed.

It had been three years since he left, and she still felt frozen in time. All she needed was her Prince to break the spell...


	2. Trapped Forever

**Phil's POV**

He had no control.

He had no control over going to jail for their family's little time-traveling trip gone wrong.

He had no control over his parents. For three years straight, they fought constantly, his mother mad that they had left for the future and claimed it was all his fault. His father claimed that it was all her fault because she didn't fight to stay hard enough.

He had no control over his little sister, Pim. She was now in a juvenile delinquent center. She had rebelled ever since she got home, getting herself into trouble countless times.

He had no control over the fact that time travel was now banned because of his family.

He had no control over his thoughts, always thinking about Keely Teslow, and how lonely he felt without her. Without her, his life was meaningless.

He felt trapped, always trapped. He felt like four walls surrounded him, confining him to the future forever.

The true happiness and joy he had found in the past had been taken away from him.

He took the pepper shaker out of the pocket of his jumpsuit. He fingered it, then gripped it tightly as a tear streamed down his face. He slowly let go of it, letting it fall softly to the floor.

Nothing mattered anymore.

**2nd chapter up! R&R??**


	3. Going Crazy

It was passing period. Keely Teslow was at her locker packing up her books for next class.

She slowly opened her blue door, and dumped the books in.

"Hello," her friend Via said with her accent.

This startled her. Via rarely ever talked to her, "Oh, hi Vee. How are you?" she said, trying to sound cheery for her friend.

"Good."

"That's nice," she said quietly.

After a few minutes, Via blurted out, "I'm worried about you."

"How so?" Keely said back, trying to sound nonchalant.

"We barely ever talk anymore. Ever since Phil left, I…" she trailed off.

She felt the tears forming. She tried to hold them back. She slammed the locker door shut, "The bell's about to ring. Need to go."

"Wait!"

She turned around.

"Well, graduation's soon. Two months from now. All the good dresses will be there, and it's a chance to get something unique."

She badly wanted to say no. That would be rude, though. After Phil left, she didn't feel like she could have a close friendship with anyone again. She rarely ever hung out with any of her other friends, and kept her distance. She figured this would be one of the last times that she and Via would hang out before they would go off to college, where she would probably never see her again, "Why not? What day?"

"Sometime this weekend, maybe? Give me a call," and she hurried off.

x_Pheelyx_

It was Saturday afternoon and Keely and Via were at a thrift shop, looking for cute dresses they could design for graduation.

Via found a blood red dress with huge, chiffon sleeves. She decided to get it, and to cut the sleeves later, to make a strapless dress.

She pulled on a white shrug over her to hide the sleeves, "This looks great! Don't you think?"

She wanted to agree. She couldn't. The dress was the color of the one she wore to prom, "Looks great," she said quickly, "Um, I have to go," she pointed toward the back of the store where the bathrooms were located.

She locked herself in and cried. She couldn't take anymore of this.

At last, she finally came out. She picked a plain blue dress. She decided she could put sparkles on it later. Nothing really mattered to her anymore.

_xPheelyx_

They drove home in silence, until they passed Phil's house. Via sighed, "Look…I'm sorry…but…I'm kind of…well, okay, worried about you Keels."

She decided to play it safe and hold her head up high, "Why do you say that?"

"Well, I just…you know," she cleared her throat then sighed, "I think you know what I mean," she said finally.

She delayed answering the question farther by cocking her head to the side and asking, "What do you mean?"

The car screeched to a sudden stop. Via pulled an illegal U-turn and rode up the street and stopped in front of the ghostly yellow house, "That's what I mean."

"I've barely talked to you in three years. Ever since Phil left, you've been a mess. I haven't been a very good friend, and I'm sorry. I avoided you when I should've tried making you feel better."

The sudden apology startled her, "Oh, I see," she nodded curtly.

"I just want to make amends before we graduate and go off to live our lives. I just want you to know I'm there."

She nodded her head again. She had no idea what to say.

"I know Phil was your best friend and all, but I deserve to know the truth. What made you so upset about his leaving?"

Silence followed afterward. Finally, "I'd never see him again."

"Oh come on! You two probably keep in touch! Phone calls, letters, email, something! And who knows? Don't say you'll never see him again. You never know-"

She couldn't take anymore. She opened up the passenger seat and climbed out, "Some things are better left unsaid. He made me promise to keep it a secret why he moved. I can't tell you where he is, nothing. We will meet up again one day….when we will, it will be too late."

Via didn't say anything. She stood there with the most puzzled look ever.

"I know this probably doesn't make any sense to you. I'm sorry. And thanks for apologizing, even though I should be the one to do that. I'll walk from here," she shut the door, and walked down the street. Via's gray SUV blew past her and she looked both sad and mad at the same time.

She walked up the deserted driveway and onto the porch, "I know you can't possibly here me, "she muttered, "I miss you." She hopped up and down, all jittery, "Um…" she bit her lip, "my life is screwed up now ever since you left," she took out the salt shaker and gripped it tightly, "I get the feeling yours is too. I'm probably crazy though," and she walked away, walked all the way home.

_xpheelyx_

He was going crazy. Thoughts whirled about in his head and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shut them out. He felt dizzy and light-headed. He needed to sit down.

He couldn't stop thinking about her. Her bubbly and outgoing nature, her gorgeous blonde hair…he wishes he could touch it. He knew he was never going to again. By then, she'll be old with ugly gray hair. Her skin would be wrinkly, and her lips would be wet and sticky.

Phil hated doing this, but it was the only way he could stop this building anger and bitterness. He threw the pepper shaker across the room. It landed with a large thud against the opposite white wall, and landed on the floor in a million little pieces.

He looked around the house, trying to find the gadget that restored broken things to its original form. He went to the office where they kept this kind of stuff.

He dug around through all these cupboards and shelves. There was an old box in one of the cupboards. Strange. Found it. He turned it on, and kept it above the shattered pieces. All the pieces came together, and restored back into his pepper shaker.

He put the gadget back in the box, and looked around through the box, wondering what was in it. He pulled out a bunch of blue prints of the time machine, a few tools, a list of parts needed to make one, and a thick history book on the history of time travel. For the first time in forever, he smiled.

* * *

**Yes, I'm finally starting to get somewhere with this! And I apologize for the lack of updating. I've been busy with school and such, and truthfully, not much inspiration on this story lately. Hope you can forgive me, and maybe leave a nice review??**

**~HOTL~**


	4. Where Do I Go From Here?

She had seen Phil today. She was absolutely sure of it.

It all started a few days ago. After Keely had broken down in front of Via, she decided to walk up to her house and apologize. Apologize for being the crappiest friend ever.

For the past week, she had been the bright, perky Keely Teslow everyone used to know. But inside, she was the same as she had been for the past three years, her broken heart still wounded, her spirits hitting an all-time low.

For the past week, she and Via had been joined at the hip. Even though she was still hurting, maybe it was time to numb and prolong the depression she had been feeling for so long. Hence, she had decided it was high time to at least attempt to reconnect with Via. Luckily, Via welcomed her back with open arms.

They decided to drive to school today. Via was driving, as per usual. As they were going past the familiarly eerie yellow house, she saw something of the corner of her eye. She forced her eyes to look at the house and there she saw him. Sitting on the front porch, hands in his lap, jittery and nervous.

"Stop!" she shouted to Via, and the car screeched to a sudden halt.

She stepped out of the car, slamming the door shut. He wasn't there, "I swear I just saw…" she trailed off as she opened up the door again.

"Keely, we'll be late," her friend sighed and resumed driving.

"Never mind…it was probably nothing. My mind playing tricks on me," but she knew that it wasn't.

She had seen him. He wasn't some figment of her imagination. She had felt his presence. She knew what she had seen. She failed to tell her friend this. They were just starting to pick up the friendship they had left off for three years, and she wasn't about to screw the relationship with her only true friend left.

_xpheelyx_

It really didn't take that long to build a time machine with plenty of time on your hands. Phil spent a week working on the time machine before it was finished. It was easy to do since he was now living on his own (he was 18 after all).

The only problem was time traveling was illegal. If he time-traveled, the officials would know. _To hell with them, _he thought bitterly, _I'm never coming back again. Fuck 2121. _

He had sent his parents an email saying goodbye. He wasn't going to miss them, really. The only thing about his mom, dad, and Pim he would ever miss was the ghost of a memory of them truly being a family. He couldn't find that anymore, and he didn't think he ever will.

So, at midnight he set off, going back to 2009, fighting a battle through the giant insect age and all.

That morning, he had arrived. Back where he had lived three years ago. So many emotions were running through him that he needed to sit down. This was all so surreal.

Soon, a gray SUV was chugging on by. In the window, he saw a girl with soft blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes. He knew that face all too well. It was the face of Keely Teslow. He wasn't ready for this. He had to hide…now.

He hid safely in the bushes while the SUV screeched to a halt and he heard the click of a car door opening. He peeked to see her scrutinize the house, a look of utter perplexity etched across her face. Then, hurt washed over the perplexity as she got back into the car and drove away.

Once the coast was clear, he creeped out onto the porch again. He raked his hands through his hair. _Crap, _he thought angrily, _she saw me. _

Her getting out of the car, her hair blowing in the morning breeze played in his head ceaselessly. She looked so…different. That word stung. She was as beautiful as ever, but there was something in her eyes that wasn't the same.

It made him squeeze the pepper shaker in this pocket even harder. Soon, tears were streaming down his face. He had everything about getting here all planned out perfectly. Once he had actually got here was something he had yet to figure out.

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**Yes! I know what you're thinking!**

**FINALLY I UPDATED! Well slowly, very slowly, the story is progressing.**

**So...leave a nice review, perhaps? And I ask that you refrain from leaving me one or two word reviews such as "nice", "good job", "great", "update", etc. Please show me that you actually connected with the story!**

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